Matthew Good Releases New Single; Album Coming In Fall

Canadian rocker Matthew Good released his latest single, “Had It Coming” today.

It’s the first single from Arrows of Desire, an album that will be released on Sept. 24.

Clocking in at only 2 minutes, 40 seconds, “Had It Coming” is a short, punchy and fun rocker, a big change from his last record Lights of Endangered Species which was a sweeping record that relied less on guitars and included horns, strings, woodwinds and piano.

“It’s a rock n’ roll record, that’s for sure,” Good said in an interview Sunday night about the new album.

“For the most part, it’s a rather up-tempo record. Mid-tempo, up-tempo. It’s night and day from Lights of Endangered Species.”

When Good wrapped up his tour for Lights, he wasn’t sure what to do next. He’s an artist that likes to change things up on each record, and he was looking for inspiration. The musician – a mainstay on Canadian charts since the ‘90s — wound up diving back into his youth, listening to bands that inspired him in the late-‘80s and early-‘90s like Husker Du, The Replacements, The Pixies and Afghan Whigs.

“I came home from touring the last record and it was obviously an intricate thing and an intricate thing to perform, and to be honest with you, I kind of had an idea of something I wanted to do a little bit, but I wasn’t totally sure,” he said. “It wasn’t really until I started delving back into that music that it just got me all fired up.”

Good released two versions of the single online and to radio Monday. “Had It Coming” is available on its own and an extended version couples it with another new song, “We’re Long Gone.” Good mentions that FM radio used to play Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” back-to-back with “Living Loving Maid,” and the idea is they can do the same with his new tracks.

Whether radio will bite and play the two-song single is hard to say.

“I have no clue,” Good said. “Maybe some stations will, maybe some stations they’ll play it at night. That kind of thing. You never know.

“But given the option, I don’t really give a damn,” he added with a laugh.

Both versions of the song are available for streaming. “Had It Coming” will be available for purchase Tuesday on iTunes and the extended single will be available for purchase on June 4.

The 10-track Arrows of Desire is Good’s sixth solo album in a decade, and his first for FrostByte Media Inc., distributed by his old home at Universal Music Canada.

The label change is a positive move, he said. When Universal decided not to pick up the option to renew his contract after Lights of Endangered Species didn’t sell as well as his previous efforts – Good knew it wasn’t a “commercially viable” album, but he feels it’s one of his strongest artistically — FrostByte was quick to snatch him up.

They’ve since sent him to Europe to perform and have been supportive of his artistic decisions to date. Good points out that the label didn’t hear a note from his new album until they dropped by the recording studio well into the making of it.

He has some summer tour dates lined up, while a full-scale coast-to-coast tour, including U.S. dates, will be announced in June and will commence in the fall. Good is looking forward to hitting the road and playing the new tunes.

“It’s a weird thing, man, being 19 years into this and still get to do it,” he said.

Good said he would love to mark 20 years in the business with a documentary about his career, but he’s not sure if it’s feasible.

Asked if fatherhood has changed his songwriting at all, Good says it hasn’t. However, he pointed out with a laugh that in the demos of songs from the new record, some of his kids’ favourite television shows can be heard in the background.

Eric Lewis is a news reporter in Moncton, New Brunswick who contributes features to MusicNerd. His wife may or may not have felt being a Matt Good fan was a prerequisite for their relationship, but it’s worked out just fine.